The invention relates to elevators and, more particularly, to a safety device for elevators which can support the passengers above the floor of the elevator car when the elevator car floor is unsafe or undesirable to stand upon by the passengers.
In general, elevators have been proven safe and accommodating, where the number of accidents reported have been significantly small compared to the enormous use of the elevator. Due to this low accident rate, no provision has been made in elevators to protect the passenger in case the elevator car floor should be broken or in disrepair, or should be flooded with water such as during a fire when the passengers are trapped in the elevator and the firemen are pouring water into the building to put out the fire.
The need for a safety device for the passengers of an elevator was recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 836,877 and British Patent No. 829,172. These patents disclose an elevator safety device including means such as rods, bars or ropes mounted in the elevator car above the heads of the passengers so as to extend substantially horizontally between two opposing walls of the elevator car within an overhead reach of the hands of the passengers. Accordingly, should the elevator car begin to fall out of control, the passengers would reach up with their hands and grasp unto the rods, bars or ropes, and then raise their feet above the floor of the elevator car, so that when the elevator car is subsequently brought to a sudden stop, as on reaching the bottom of the elevator shaft, the passengers' legs are protected from the shock produced by the sudden stop.
Accordingly, there is a need in the elevator art to provide a safety device when the floor of the elevator car is unsafe or undesirable to stand upon by the passengers, where such a device should be able to accommodate all the passengers in the elevator car without requiring the passengers to be physically fit in order to raise their feet from the floor of the elevator car.